The journey towards gender equity has been long and ongoing for
girls and women in sport and physical activity. Efforts towards gender
equity in sport have been plentiful, and are continually ongoing as more
girls and women participate and play in sport at both the high school
and intercollegiate levels. Further, women continue to work their way
towards more management and leadership positions.

Numerous strategies and initiatives have been created to eliminate
gender discrimination, promote opportunities and to ensure gender equity
in sport and physical education for girls and women. However, from the
early efforts of female physical education instructors and the women of
the AIAW, women are still fighting some of the same stereotypes, myths,
and issues that their foremothers faced. Minimal participation was
attributed to traditional gender roles, medical myths, and the notion
that women were inferior to men (Ladda, 2007; Rintala, 2001; Swanson
& Spears, 1995). Eventually some women began calling for more
participation and more organization (Ennis, 2006; Swanson & Spears,
1995). This led to the formation of several groups included the National
Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS) and the CIAW
(Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) and eventually the
Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) as well as
others. The women of these groups had very specific ideas as to how they
wanted sport and physical activity run for women, and they were
steadfast in avoiding some of the problems and scandals that men's
sports and physical activity had been experiencing (Chepko &
Courtier, 2001; Rintala, 2001).

With the passage of Title IX in 1972, more and more girls and women
began participating and women worked towards obtaining positions in
management and leadership. According to the National Federation of State
High School Associations (2010) 3,114,091 girls are playing sports
compared to 294,015 in 1971-72. Further, at the intercollegiate level,
participation levels are close to an all time high (Acosta &
Carpenter, 2010). Title IX has created many positives in addition to
more girls and women participating in sport. These include both
psychological and physical benefits. However, there are still some
issues and concerns that need to be addressed with this growth.

Inevitably with change and evolution, there are going to come some
growing pains. For advocates of girls and women in sport and physical
activity it is important to pay attention to those pains and some of the
issues facing girls and women. For example, the media continues to
sexualize female athletes, if they get any coverage at all (Fink &
Kensicki, 2002; Messner, Duncan, & Wachs, 1996). Further, Stoll
(2005) continues to study and monitor the decreasing levels of moral
reasoning for athletes. For girls and women, the levels continue to drop
and Stoll predicts that those levels will be as low as male athletes
within 5-10 years. Additionally, violent incidents between female
athletes have been well noted in the press lately, and incidents of
hazing continue to get more extreme. Furthermore, girls and women in
sport continue to face sexist language and negative perceptions. These
perceptions include ideas about women's gender roles and the
incongruency that is often seen between 'athlete" and
"female" (Burton, Grappendorf, Henderson, Field, Dennis, 2008;
Eagly & Karau, 2002). Traditional gender roles and stereotypical
expectations of what women "should" be have hurt both female
athletes and those women seeking positions in sport leadership (Burton
et.al.; Eagly & Karau)

This presentation addressed the history and progression, along with
barriers and victories of girls and women in sport and physical
activity. A brief overview of the early struggles for women in sport and
physical activity was provided along with a current status update.
Finally, future issues and areas of concern for those involved with
girls and women in sport and physical activity were addressed. These
issues are crucial to discuss as the movement towards gender equity
continues.

National Federation of State High School Associations. (2010).
2008-2009 Athletic participation survey. Retrieved January 28, 2010,
from http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=
3282&linkidentifier=id&itemid=3282

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